St. Joseph Reflections
Leading up to the Solemnity of St. Joseph on March 19th, we offer these reflections on the life of St. Joseph and the lessons they can teach us.
Novena, Day 1: Joseph son of David
St. Matthew opens his gospel by recounting the genealogy of Jesus beginning with Abraham and ending with Joseph. Why is the genealogy important? Because Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, the promised heir to the throne of David.
Imagine being a Jew at the time of Jesus' birth. God had promised King David that the rule of his successors would never end, yet Herod sat on the throne as a puppet of the Roman Empire and there had been no Davidic king for centuries. It could look like God had forgotten His promise. But there at the beginning of the Gospel, we find Joseph, the heir of David, hidden in obscurity, about to become the foster father of the promised Messiah. God had not forgotten.
We may think God forgets His promises, but God is faithful. He always fulfills His promises, but He fulfills them in His own time. There will be times when we, like the Israelites, will have to wait to see His promises fulfilled and our prayers answered, but we can always trust that He will keep His word.
Novena, Day 2: Joseph, husband of Mary
Imagine St. Joseph when he first met Our Lady. He had found a woman of incredible beauty and great virtue. How could he help but be drawn to her? At first blush, it probably seemed like any other love story, where the young man fell in love and was prepared to declare before the world that his beloved was the fairest flower known to man. We know eventually an angel would appear to him and let him know that God had special designs on this relationship, but that would come later. In beginning, all he knew was that he had found the woman of his dreams and would make her his wife.
It might have been tempting to reduce the courtship to mere romanticism but providence was at work. Maybe he didn't realize it at first, but in courting Our Lady, he was entering into a noble vocation in which the salvation of the whole world was tied. An ordinary thing like falling in love led him to become the guardian and protector of the Son of God and his mother.
Husbands and fathers: never underestimate your vocation. God has designs not just for you but your families. By saying, "I do" to your wife," by being a committed father, you play a necessary role in all the things God hopes to accomplish through your family.
Novena, Day 3: Joseph, the chivalrous man
After the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and she conceived, St. Matthew writes that Joseph was "unwilling to put her to shame" and tried to divorce her quietly. Joseph knew the child could not be his since he had not had relations with Mary. Though he probably struggled to accept it, conceivably there was only one conclusion: that somehow Mary had been unfaithful.
You can imagine how this thought must have hurt him. How could this woman whom he loved so much, whom he knew to be so good, have done something like this? It didn't make sense, but what else could have happened? The confusion would be cleared up shortly by the angel Gabriel, but before then you could imagine there was a real crisis.
Feelings of pain and betrayal tend to blind us to everything but ourselves. The temptation to seek revenge, to push people away, to abandon them to their fate and declare them dead to us is strong. But this is not how St. Joseph acted. Even in his hurt and confusion, he was unwilling to put her to shame. This is the mark of real man: he treats women (and people in general) with dignity, even in the worst of circumstances. A boy will tend to make everything about himself, but the man forgets himself and acts with grace even when he is hurt. May St. Joseph be our model for Christian chivalry, that our hearts might be noble and selfless like his.
Novena, Day 4: Do not fear
Fear often gets in the way of responding to God's call. When God makes a big ask, we worry that the risks are too big, that something will go wrong. It takes a leap of faith to move beyond that. The same was true of St. Joseph. "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife." Why would he be afraid? First, because he was unsure of where this child came from. What if she was unfaithful? Second, if this child was conceived by the Holy Spirit, he was surely wondering what he was signing up for. No details were given about what life as the foster father of the Son of God would be like. He could only imagine, and doubtless that was an overwhelming thought.
"Do not be afraid." God called St. Joseph out into uncharted territory and he took the leap. There was no model for how to be the spouse of Mary and the foster father of the Son of God: Joseph had to simply trust God and step out into his vocation. This pattern would repeat through the Gospels. The apostles would be asked to leave everything they knew behind to follow Jesus, going to someplace they did not know to do things they did not yet understand. But they went. St. Peter would be asked to do something no human being had ever done before: walk on water. To do so, he had to set aside his fears, take a leap of faith and trust Jesus knew what he was doing. Such should be our response when God calls. Do not be afraid, trust Him and take the leap.
Novena, Day 5: He did as the angel commanded him
"When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him."
People would like to think that if they ever got a direct call from God, they would obey promptly, but in fact, human beings are more complicated than that. The prophet Jonah is a prime example. The problem was not that Jonah did not know what God wanted from him: he knew perfectly well, but Jonah was not prepared to submit his will to God's. It takes time and discipline to stretch our souls so that our wills are conformed to God's will. That St. Joseph was prepared to obey God immediately, speaks to his virtue.
St. Joseph has the humility to do what he is told because he trusts God. We should always remember that God knows best. We can have our ideas about how things should go, and these might even have some merit, but we also need to be ready to set aside those ideas when God says otherwise. Joseph probably pictured something very different for his marriage than what the angel is asking of him, but Joseph set those ideas aside and did as he was asked.
Novena, Day 6: Rise, take the child and its mother, and flee to Egypt.
Obedience is a hard won virtue. It can take time for us to get on board with God's ways and plans. Sometimes, just when we have fought through all our objections and have said yes to what God is asking for us, circumstances change and he asks for something new. If it was hard to say yes the first time, it can be much harder to say yes the second.
Something like this happened to St. Joseph. He had said yes to taking Mary as his wife and was settling down to the life of a husband and father. According to orders, he went to Bethlehem, Jesus was born, so everything from here on out should be fine, right? Just when he thinks he's done everything he was asked, an angel appears to him in the middle of the night and tells him he needs to leave immediately.
St. Joseph must have wondered, "Did I get this wrong? Did I misunderstand the angel the first time? I did everything I was supposed to, why am I being asked to leave now?" We know about Herod's plots, but St. Joseph was just finding out. There was no time to ask questions, no time to process was happening, it was imperative that he leave immediately. Had he not, the Holy Family may not have escaped.
There is a good lesson for us here. Sometimes God calls us to a particular place for life, but sometimes it is only for a time. If things change, we should resist the temptation to get discouraged but instead trust Him and obey promptly.
Novena, Day 7: Remain there until I tell you to leave
The angel of the Lord instructed St. Joseph to flee to Egypt and "remain there until I tell you to leave." You can imagine what it was like for St. Joseph, waiting in exile in Egypt, wondering when he would be told he could go back. The temptation to think maybe he misinterpreted the angel could easily have crossed his mind. The temptation to begin desperately looking for signs to go back could easily set in. ("That pyramid we past faces east, which is towards Israel, therefore that must be a sign from God!") But Joseph doesn't fall to those temptations. He does wait and he only goes back when he is told.
Sometimes people say things like, "Why won't God just tell me what he wants me to do?" After talking to them, it becomes clear that God has told them what they need to do and they're doing it. They've been doing it for a while. Because they've been doing what they're supposed to do, they've been given no further instructions. They have all they need for now. This is hard to take. Nevertheless, it is part of trust in God. He will tell us what we need to know, when we need to know it. In the meantime, it is for us to be patient and live for His greater glory wherever He has placed us.
Novena, Day 8: Is this not the carpenter's son?
When Jesus begins his public ministry, he causes quite a stir in his hometown. He preaches with authority, as if He were from God. He performs great miracles. He gives signs that He is the Messiah. And so, the people of Nazareth ask, "Is this not the carpenter's son?" Shouldn't we expect a man like this to be born of a prominent family? How could a man born of an ordinary, blue collar father be so great?
The answer? Because God uses the weak things of this world to shame the proud.
Joseph gives us hope precisely because he is not great in the eyes of the world. God chose a man who was virtuous but ordinary in the eyes of the world to be the foster father of his son. If God would use a man like Joseph for such great designs, he can use us too. Most of us are not the greats of the world and we can be tempted to think that that disqualifies us from being God's instruments. But that is not how God works. Yes, Jesus was the son of a carpenter, and very proud of it. He could have chosen to be the foster son of a king, but He chose the carpenter instead. Such are the ways of God.
Novena, Day 9: From that hour, the disciple took her into his home
While Jesus hung dying on the cross, He looked down and saw His mother and St. John standing there. St. Joseph had passed away a long time ago. Now Jesus was also about to leave her.
The thought of leaving His mother alone was unbearable to Him. She who loved more deeply than any person ever had before deserved to be loved in return. That role had originally belonged to St. Joseph, who took her into his home and into his heart. Now Jesus entrusts that role to St. John, to love Mary, to take her into his home, and care for her.
Jesus is calling us to love His mother with the heart of St. Joseph and St. John. We too should take her into our homes, into our hearts, and not be afraid to pledge ourselves entirely to her. We'll certainly be overshadowed with her and the Christ child under our roof, just as St. Joseph was. Everyone's attention will be directed towards them and away from us. But we'll be privileged to be there in the background, always nearby, though rarely noticed. Such was the great privilege that St. Joseph had. Such could be our privilege too.